NEW YORK (AP) -- Police have arrested a 55-year-old New York man on charges he called a Sikh man a terrorist and mowed him down with his pickup truck.

The encounter happened July 30 in Richmond Hill, Queens.

The New York Post reports ( http://bit.ly/1o8TRKo ) that Joseph Caleca and 29-year-old Sandeep Singh exchanged words because Singh's car door was blocking the street.

Police say Caleca called Singh a terrorist before hitting him with his truck. Police say Caleca then accelerated, hit Singh and dragged him several feet before fleeing.

Caleca, of Setauket on Long Island, was arrested late Monday on charges of attempted murder as a hate crime and assault as a hate crime. No information on a lawyer for him was available.

Singh was treated at Jamaica Hospital for abdominal and back injuries.

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Information from: New York Post, http://www.nypost.com

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Sikh Americans We Admire

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Waris Ahluwahlia is a talented jewelry designer known for his impeccable sense of style and beautiful creations. He acted in Wes Anderson's film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and lately garnered praise for appearing in a Gap ad campaign with artist and film-maker Quentin Jones.
The ad quickly went viral when someone vandalized it with bigoted graffiti, causing Gap to change its Twitter background to the picture of Ahluwahlia in a show of solidarity. The incident showed the importance of mainstream media representation for minority communities as many Sikhs expressed their appreciation for Gap.

Amrit Singh is a civil rights lawyer known for being one of the fiercest U.S. critics of the torture and abuse of prisoners under the Bush administration. Her report, Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition, is considered the most comprehensive account to date of human rights abuses associated with secret detentions. She is the senior legal officer for national security and counterterrorism at the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Darsh Singh is the NCAA's first turbaned Sikh American basketball player. He ended his senior year at Trinity University as co-captain of the team.

Vishavjit Singh drew smiles and laughs when he dressed up as Captain America and roamed the streets of New York. The cartoonist of Sikhtoons.com challenged expectations about superheroes and national entity with his awesome costume.
He wrote in Salon, "If I had stereotyped the world the way it may see me in my turban and beard, I would never have walked out as Captain America. Stop projecting your insecurities. There are many good people all over America despite the political labels we wear."

In 2009, Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi became the first Sikh allowed to serve on active duty in the U.S. army with a turban, beard and unshorn hair in more than twenty years. The emergency room doctor petitioned Congress for two years before the Army allowed him a religious exemption. Now, he hopes to rescind the strict rules that prevent some observant Sikhs from serving, as not all of them are granted religious exemptions like Kalsi.

Balpreet Kaur was named Huffington Post's 'Person Of The Year' In 2012 for her amazing and thoughtful response to a Redditor who posted a picture of her online in order to make fun of her appearance. Her comments caused the original poster to have a total change of heart and publicly apologize.

Valarie Kaur is a longtime advocate, writer, filmmaker, and activist for causes of justice that go far beyond the Sikh community. Her documentary Divided We Fall covered post-9/11 hate crimes and inspired a grassroots national dialogue. She also created a short film about the Sikh community in the aftermath of the horrific Oak Creek massacre. She's currently at Auburn Theological seminary as the director of Groundswell, an initiative to empower the multifaith movement for justice.

Prabhjot Singh, a professor at Columbia University, sustained serious injuries after being subjected to a brutal hate crime attack. In a blog about the incident, his friend Simran Jeet Singh said that "Prabhjot has dedicated his life to serving the underserved," as Director of Systems Management at the Earth Institute as well as within his local Harlem community.
Rather than responding to the attack with anger or hate, Singh said that he wanted to educate his attackers and "invite them where we worship."